March 6. Brent Henderson. Young Brent was a skinny kid from Pennsylvania. And he was smaller than his classmates, who bullied him. He didn’t play sports, and he didn’t fit in. So he retreated to the outdoors, where he seemed to fit better. And he grew up with a passion for the outdoors and for outdoor adventures.
As an adult, Brent worked in a steel mill, performed with world-renowned musical artists, led worship and men’s groups in church, and sponsored men’s retreats. Now, he speaks at men’s conferences, and serves as the executive director of MenMinistry, whose mission is “to help men recover their one, true identity in Christ.”
Brent also writes books. On this date in 2018, he published Into the Wilds: The Dangerous Truth Every Man Needs to Know.
But Brent probably would prefer that we did not focus on this list of his accomplishments. Here’s his story.
The devil’s lies can look attractive, but they lead to death. A real man banks on truth.
The black mamba is one of the fastest, deadliest snakes on the planet. It slithers across an African savannah at speeds of up to twelve miles per hour. If you get bitten by this serpent, it’s not three strikes and you’re out; it’s one strike, and you’re dead.
If you don’t receive anti-venom in time, which is often the case in Africa, expect paralysis and cardiac arrest within thirty minutes.
When Brent and a friend traveled to Africa in 2006, they weren’t thinking about the deadly black mamba. They were thinking about the hunting safari of a lifetime.
Brent arrived with plenty of outdoor experience and a fine reputation as a professional big-game hunter. Just two days into the safari, with a bow-and-arrow, he harvested a stallion zebra.
Later in the week, Brent and his friend drove into town and came upon a long “stick” in the road. It didn’t take long to recognize they were looking at a black mamba—grey—with a mouth as black as coal. What happened next can only be attributed to a testosterone-induced attack of temporary insanity.
Brent’s friend decided to get out, catch the snake, and have Brent videotape it.
Crazy?
Definitely.
By the time Brent got the camera rolling, his buddy had already used a stick and secured a tight grip behind the snake’s head. He picked up the snake for the camera and waved it at some shocked Africans who were driving by. (The passersby let Brent and his friend know they were nuts.)
Not to be outdone, Brent wanted a picture of himself holding the deadly viper. So, the two men switched places, and Brent had his photo taken with the snake. Then he dispatched the deadly serpent with his handy hunting knife. In the process, a drip of venom splashed onto his hand, and he cleaned it off with Coca-Cola. Crazy? Yep.
Later, Brent admitted the whole stunt was categorically stupid, and he was forced to ask himself—why did I do it? Why was it so important to have my picture taken holding a black mamba? He concluded it must have been the desire for “fame and glory.” But he went on to draw a spiritual correlation, which has helped him to teach others how to grow up and out of ego-driven performance stunts in order to feel better about themselves.
Brent teaches men that Satan’s BIG LIE consists in this: performance, plus other people’s opinion, equals a man’s self-worth. You could say it’s the Big Black Mamba Lie, and a lot of men are tempted to buy into it.
God’s Word says, “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other” (Galatians 5:26 NIV). When we know who we are in Christ, we won’t be conceited, and we won’t need to envy or provoke anyone.
Are you believing the Big Lie, or are you living free in Jesus Christ and believing the truth? The devil’s lies can look attractive, but they lead to death. A real man banks on truth.
“Mission—Vision—Values.” Men Ministry: Changed Men Change Men. Accessed August 17, 2020. https:/www.menministry.org/mission-vision-values/.
Henderson, Brent. Into the Wilds: The Dangerous Truth Every Man Needs to Know. PA: Whitaker House, 2018.
“Brent Henderson.” The MitchellGroup. Accessed October 15, 2020. http://mitchellgroup.org/brent-henderson/.
Story read by Joel Carpenter
Story written by Toni M Babcock, https://www.facebook.com/toni.babcock.1